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1 1 (August 2, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveiip0001 and id is 1 raw text is: In Djibouti Updated August 2, 2022 The small, arid East African country of Djibouti is strategically located along one of the world's busiest shipping routes on the Bab el Mandeb Strait, which serves as the gateway from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean (Figure 1). Djibouti has become a hub for foreign militaries. It is home to U.S. Africa Command's Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), based at Camp Lemonnier, the only enduring U.S. military installation in Africa. A former French colony, Djibouti also hosts a sizable French military presence and provides facilities for multinational antipiracy operations off Somalia's coast. Japan established its first post-World War II overseas military base there in 2011. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) opened a liaison office in Djibouti to enhance regional antipiracy efforts in 2015. China opened its first military base abroad there in 2017. Italy also maintains military facilities in the country. With almost no arable land, few natural resources, and little industry, Djibouti's economy depends heavily on its services sector and trade through its busy international port complex. Rents and related revenue from foreign militaries are an important source of revenue (reportedly over $125 million annually). The country is pursuing an ambitious agenda to become a commercial trade hub for the region. Landlocked Ethiopia, home to over 110 million people, relies on Djibouti for the transit of 90% of its formal trade. China's engagement with Djibouti is multifaceted, ranging from major infrastructure investments to the expansion of its geostrategic naval base. A Chinese-built rail line connects Djibouti and Ethiopia. China holds a majority of Djibouti's external sovereign debt, and considers the country as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to connect countries to Chinese global trade routes. (See CRS In Focus IF11304, China's Engagement in Djibouti.) Huanitarian an d Development Situation Djibouti hosts more than 35,000 refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict in neighboring states and nearby Yemen. Many refugees transit via Djibouti to other countries, given limited access to livelihood opportunities there. Djibouti's own population of just under 1 million grapples with chronic drought, which contributes to a high prevalence of acute malnutrition. More than 90% of its food is imported. Djibouti is heavily reliant on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine; it has been affected by the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on global food prices as well as by a severe regional drought. Djibouti is categorized as a lower-middle-income country, but it ranks near the bottom of the UN Development Program's Human Development Index (166 out of 189 countries). The official unemployment rate is nearly 40% more than 60% of the rural population lives in extreme poverty. Female genital mutilation/cutting is prevalent. Figure I. Djibouti Source: CRS, using ESRI and U.S. State Department data. Political Situation President Isma8l Omar Guelleh has led Djibouti since 1999, when he was elected after the retirement of the country's first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon (Guelleh's uncle). Critics argue that Guelleh's government is authoritarian and corrupt. His political opponents contend that opening the country to foreign bases has shielded the president from greater Western criticism of abuses, allowing Guelleh to tighten his hold on power, despite public discontent. In 2010, near the end of Guelleh's second term in office, the parliament amended the constitution to abolish term limits. He has since won reelection three more times, in 2011, 2016 and 2021 (despite having vowed that his 2011 reelection would be his third and final time); he carried the 2021 election with nearly 97% of the vote. As in previous elections, opposition parties, most of which boycotted the elections, asserted that the results were rigged. Age limits in the current constitution would make Guelleh, born in 1947, ineligible to run for reelection again. Guelleh's governing Union for the Presidential Majority coalition (UMP after its French acronym) maintains an overwhelming majority in parliament, and power within the coalition is heavily concentrated in the president's own party. The main opposition parties boycotted the most recent parliamentary elections, in early 2018. The State Department's latest human rights report notes that formal structures of representative government and electoral processes had little relevance to the real distribution and exercise of power. The report underscores suppression of the opposition; arbitrary arrests of journalists, academics, demonstrators, and opposition members; and restrictions on freedom of assembly and speech. It suggests that officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. It highlights cases of refoulement, including the forcible return of Tigrayans to Ethiopia. gre s bn I Res arch Servbc mrmn the ieaislve debate sinc 19.14

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